Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is notably lower on Friday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 42,700 level, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 178.17 points or 0.42 percent to 42,650.62, after hitting a low of 42,611.31 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent, while Honda is adding 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 2 percent and Canon is edging down 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are down almost 1 percent each.

Among other major losers, Ryohin Keikaku is declining almost 6 more than 3 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and Hino Motors are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Dentsu Group is jumping more than 10 percent and Furukawa Electric is gaining more than 3 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan - considered a leading indicator for the national trend - were up 2.6 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications or MIAC, said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 2.9 percent in July. Core consumer prices - which strips out the volatiles costs of food - were up an annual 2.5 percent. That again was in line with expectations and down from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

The MIAC also said the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was below expectations for 2.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from the June reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.22 - unchanged from the previous month by missing forecasts for 1.23.

Further, Industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted1.6 percent on month in July, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI, said on Friday. That missed expectations for a decline of 1.1 percent following the 2.1 percent increase in June. On a yearly basis, industrial production was down 0.9 percent. Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment for industrial production, saying that it continues to fluctuate indecisively.

The METI also said the value of retail sales in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in July, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 13.335 trillion yen. That misses forecasts for an increase of 1.5 percent following the downwardly revised 1.9 percent gain in June (originally 2.0 percent). On a yearly basis, retail sales slumped 1.6 percent after gaining 0.9 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages added to the gains posted in the two previous sessions, with the S&P 500 reaching another new record closing high.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq climbed 115.02 points or 0.5 percent to 21,705.16, the S&P 500 rose 20.46 points or 0.3 percent to 6,501.86 and the Dow edged up 71.67 points or 0.2 percent to 45,636.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday following a drop in U.S. crude inventories a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.42 or 0.65 percent at $64.57 per barrel.